1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting for hard drives and, more particularly, to a mounting for compactly and removably attaching a pair of hard drives on a base.
2. Description of Related Art
Hard drives are used in conjunction with all computers for data storage and retrieval. Such a hard drive is generally mounted upon a base to mechanically secure the hard drive and to effect the necessary electrical conductions. Over a period of years, certain industry standards have been developed for the length, width and height of the hard drive and supporting base. This is sometimes referred to as a form factor. Such standardization is necessary in order to accommodate interchangeability of hard drive modules (hard drive and supporting base) irrespective of the manufacturer. Specifically, the dimensions for the base are 5¾″ (146.1 mm) in length, 4″ (101.6 mm) in width, and 1″ (25.4 mm) in height.
Conventionally, a single hard drive is mounted upon a base and in compliance with the form factor. For redundancy purposes, one must therefore use two modules instead of a single module. This necessarily doubles the panel space of the equipment with which the hard drives are used. It may be noted that except for special purpose hard drives, there are industry standards for the length, width and height of hard drives which manufacturers of hard drives honor. Were it otherwise, interchangeability between the products of various manufacturers would be impossible.